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Reminiscing Cuba

Zulkif i Adnan

I had the good fortune of visiting Cuba a total of four times. T e f rst three
happened when we had yet to establish our Embassy in Cuba. I was f rst
connected to Cuba when I started my second overseas assignment as the
First Secretary at our Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations
in New York in August 1993.

In addition to our main task of representing Malaysia on various issues at
the United Nations, we were also concurrently accredited to f ve countries
in the Caribbean – Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and
Cuba. I was assigned by our Ambassador/Permanent Representative, Tan Sri
Razali Ismail, as the desk of cer looking after the f ve countries. It was only
in March 2001 that we established our Embassy in Havana.

My f rst visit was in 1994 when we were negotiating the Sports Cooperation
Agreement between Malaysia and Cuba. I was somewhat anxious at f rst
when asked to f y to Spanish-speaking Cuba alone to help with the delegation.
Soon after arriving, however, I realised that my worries were unfounded,
and the negotiations went on without a hitch. T e delegation was led by
the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports,
and we managed to sign the Agreement during this visit. Despite its small
population of some ten million, Cuba has been very successful in athletics
and sports on the world stage. In the previous Olympic Games in Barcelona
in 1992, Cuba raked in a very impressive medal tally of 14 golds, 6 silvers
and 11 bronzes, and was ranked f fth overall at the time.

I was pleasantly surprised when I was asked to accompany prominent
businessman Ananda Krishnan to Havana on a four-day business trip in

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